Knowing what to say can make a world of difference

Welcome to Day 8 of the Tribes group blogging festivities, initiated by John Saddington. I'll be focusing on pages 35-39, which deals with initiative, leverage, followings, factories, and my favorite--Innovation. (Which I believe it's at the heart of it all.)

What I love about innovation--the power of an idea--is it can come from anywhere. It's not dependent on what you've done before, your talents or bank account size. In fact, too much of any of these things can actually inhibit the process. That's why I'm a huge cheerleader for the little guys.

The little guys are typically the ones to challenge the status quo. They don't have the resources to do it the way it's "supposed" to be done. (Or they're fortunate enough not to know any better.)

Large established organizations are frequently boxed in [perhaps self-contained?] by this type of thinking. There's too much at risk to try something new. The stakes might be too high with much to potentially lose. The early days of Southwest Airlines was a brilliant example of challenging the status quo. They refused to hire industry professionals who knew how it was "supposed" to be done. They were masters at asking, "What if".

"What if we standardize our planes to make servicing them easier? What if we could turn them around in 10 mins instead of 40? What if we focused regionally? What if the flight attendants had fun with the passengers?"

They changed the game.

Little guys are nimble enough to shift gears if something isn't working. They're forced to get creative when solving problems because throwing more money or people at it isn't an option. They cast vision and create passionate tribes that are crazy enough to realize they just might be able to make a difference.

This is one of the reasons why I love church planters so much. They're entrepreneurs. Underdogs. Ministry MacGyvers, if you will.

"[You have] ... everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself. The people around you realize this, and they are ready to follow if you're ready to lead." -Seth Godin

The challenge is to maintain this mindset as the organization begins to mature. Marketplace companies have R&D labs; what about the Church? This is something we need to be intentional about because it's inevitable. Once we discover something that works, we systematize it. So what are we doing to overcome the Factory mindset that is inherent with larger organizations?

Fellow Triiiber, Eric Murrell did a fantastic job painting a picture of the unfortunate results in his post of an organization consumed by the Factory mindset:

"The lack of enthusiasm was even evident from the demeanor in the break
room; instead of discussing the latest technologies and wildly
daydreaming about it’s implications on our field, folks sat around
passively drinking their coffee and checking the clock to see how much
time remained before they could escape their fluorescent prisons."

How many churches does this describe today?

My take away from this section is that innovation is born out of initiative, which leads to increased leverage and a following. Factories can be the unfortunate byproduct of success that cripples future growth if not handled with care. True, efficiencies can be fantastic but at what cost?

Recently, I was humbled and honored to be included in Kary Oberbrunner's "5 Questions" interviews with leaders in ministry. If you'd like to see a quick snapshot of how we've gotten from there to here & stuff I stress about, you can find it here.

I was privileged to meet Kary sometime last year when he was getting ready to launch his book, The Fine Line. Fabulous book about being relevant to today's culture without compromising your values. I was really impressed with the book overall which you can read more about here.

Question for you guys-- What irrational fear has held you back from pursuing something God may be prompting you to do?

The fine line between being in but not of the world can often feel like a tight rope. Lean too far in one direction and we're out of touch. Irrelevant. Too far in the other can be a slippery slope that leads to compromised values and stumbles in our faith.

How much is too much?

I had the privilege of getting to know Kary Oberbrunner recently and was just wowed with his passion and humbled by the opportunity to get a sneak peek of his soon-to-be released book, The Fine Line.

Kary has a compelling story that drew me in, challenged my thinking and didn't let go.

He's also captured the attention of the big dogs; a few of whose thoughts you can read here, here and here. [You can find the entire list of tour stops here. Definitely worth checking out] But of course the best thing is to get copies for you and your team at a pre-release steal.

Here's just one of the many snippets that captured my attention:

"Knowingly or unknowingly, when we fail to define relevance, we sidestep accountability. For how can we be accountable if we haven't defined relevance? ...Relevance is a tricky thing. We can't self-profess our way into it; we have to earn it. Relevance is something others believe about us, not what we believe about ourselves."

.: Food for thought ::.

As leaders of ministries, it seems this tension is even more apparent in how we reach people. Where does the line get drawn? What filters do you use to ensure your church is "in" but not "of" the world? How far has that line been pushed?

Okay, with all of the big wigs Shawn’s invited on his 200 Pomegranates blog tour, I feel like this stop might be due to a missed on-ramp that led to Po-dunkville, population 35. But honored to participate nonetheless with a few burning questions :)

Dawn >> What led to the book’s title? I understand Hurum was carving pomegranates AND lilies for King Solomon’s temple… why not 200 Lilies? [which is much easier to spell, btw] Were there any other titles you were thinking about when you first started working on the book & how did you land on this one?

Shawn >> Man, I wish we would have talked before now…is 200lilies.com available! Actually the book is birthed out of a message that took me about 15 years to deliver and was originally named “details, details”. As I worked through the passage even more it become the idea for a book under the working title “The Artist Mandate”. My publishers being a very smart group of people pushed me to be a little more creative - and boy did they get what they asked for when I sent them “200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One”. I also hope to win a spot in the world record books for the longest title in the history of books.

Dawn >> In the book, I loved how you made the case that everyone is actually an artist but we all have different canvases which we work on. I also love your point that the most tedious, difficult & usually hardest work [that no one but God sees] is oftentimes the work that matters most. What was the hardest part for you when writing this book? Do you have a favorite part?

Shawn >> My favorite parts were the stories. I really don’t think of myself as an author, though I know that officially I am. In my mind Authors write original ideas. I am not sure that I have original ideas as much as I have a story to tell about how Jesus has entered into my life, saved me and now is radically changing me day-after-day. My hope would be that people would find themselves resonating with my story and in the end seeing that the one commonality to all stories with a good ending is Jesus.

Dawn >> Some may say pomegranates [the fruit] have a bad branding rap... lots of misperceptions that they’re time consuming & difficult to eat. But I understand you intentionally wrote this book to be a fairly quick & easy read. Is this to overcome any potential baggage of a misunderstood fruit?

Shawn >> Being a misunderstood fruit myself, I had empathy with the pomegranate. The book is just a little about Pomegranates and more about a life of meaning an influence. But the common truth is that living a life of influence is time consuming a little messy and hard to swallow. But in the end their both pretty sweet!

Dawn >> I noticed you have a pretty wicked blog where folks can get info on the latest happenings for the book. Did you have any help with that? :)

Shawn >> One of the coolest things for me in writing this book, having it published and now waiting for the release date, has been the help of my friends. This blog tour, speaking opportunities, endorsements etc. has just all humbled me and blown me away. One friend in Ministry for me is Keith Baldwin at AspireOne (I think you may know him :)). I asked Keith about some help on setting up a website for the book and not only did he say “yes”, but has made it far better than I would have ever imagined. So yes, it is pretty wicked!

Dawn >> If any one else wants to host a blog stop or get their hands on a copy of the book when it releases, where can we turn for help?

Shawn >> The book will be sold wherever fine books are sold (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Your local Christian Book store, from my Mom’s garage) and will be out September 1st 2008. I am planning a Amazon Book Bomb for that day and hope to see my little book as the number one book in all the land for about 3 seconds when my whole family buys one! Also I will be releasing the book and they will be available at Innovate 08 where I will be speaking with some of my friends from Granger Community Church.

If you would like to be a part of the blog tour you can e-mail here and also, here is a little sample of the book for your readers as well…

Dawn >> Thanks again, Shawn for the opportunity to participate. I can only imagine how challenging it was to write this book while teaching & running your FT gig at Seacoast. But I’m sure the lives touched as a result will be too many to count. Well done, my friend.

My official copies of Pop Goes the Church just arrived & I can't wait to read the finished work. I've seen fantastic reviews everywhere, but was a bit late to the party getting my order in. [And of course, mail in Sycamore tends to be delivered by horse and buggy]

Thanks, Tim for giving this important topic a voice & explaining what it means for churches today to be intentionally relevant.

Milan Ford at Streaming Faith gave me a heads up this morning about an interview he's posting tomorrow with Seth Godin regarding his latest book, Meatball Sundaes & how it applies to ministry. Great stuff. Highly recommend checking it out.

And when you snag a copy of the book, there's a [can you believe **free?**?] conference call discussing these principles next Wednesday, 4/9. There's lives at stake, people! We can't afford to miss out on this kind of learning :)

Coincidental side note:: I had a call w/Seth myself this morning about the book concept I'm working on, which brought it to another level entirely...very, very stoked about this.

Wow. I was really impressed with the depth that this topic was explored & the solid reasoning behind it. It's hard to sum up in a few words how important I think this book is for leaders in ministry to read, so here's my

Top 5 Reasons Why You Need This Book(in no particular order)

Gives reason to why it's so important to understand culture now vs. even a decade ago

Brings clarity to the role of pop culture in ministry (probably not what you think)

Demonstrates living examples of ministries who are making this work & making an impact

This is not a "one-Granger-size-fits-all" point of view, but truly enlightens readers on the importance of understanding pop culture and its role in connecting people to Christ. Definitely worth the read.

Wow. Mark Batterson knocked it out of the park with his latest book, In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. My heart was racing with each turn of the page, asking myself, "What lions I have chased down recently? How long will my list of, "I wish I would'ves" be?"

The book uncovers an often overlooked passage in the Bible about Benaiah, who early in his career chased down and killed a lion & eventually rose to be the commander in chief of Israel's army. But the core teaching is about risk-taking. Looking circumstances that may be overwhelming in the eye and seeing them as God-given opportunities. Mark goes on to explain that oftentimes as Christians, we're tempted to play it safe. And at the end of the day, the bigger risk is regretfully looking at a long list of things we wish we would've done, but didn't have the courage.

I think this is especially important for entreprenuerial leaders to remember. Risk-taking is critical if we ever want to inspire change and motivate others to get in the game as well.

For me personally, the book is just so inspiring. It helped me to take stock of what risks really count as "risks" and not just stretching a little :) Like many of you, my list of "I wish I would'ves" is already longer than I care to admit & this helped give renewed motivation to not let it get any longer.

Wow--can't say I've ever been tagged before. I know, hard to believe given my lengthy experience in the blog world. Thanks, Tim! :) All of the memories of being picked last for dodgeball are slipping away. [well, almost]